I hear a lot of people compare the New Year to a blank piece of paper. On the one hand, that’s great! A fresh slate! On the other hand, there is nothing scarier than a blank piece of paper when you need to fill it with ideas. Just a few weeks ago, I sat down at my desk to create my 2021 editorial calendar. That’s where I put down all of the topics that I want to cover in my podcast, blog, webinars, and YouTube videos. Let me tell you, coming up with 52+ fresh ideas is NOT easy! And…
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Have you taken the time to think about how people get to your website? A sales funnel is key. Even though we are firmly in the age of the internet, there are countless small businesses out there that maintain a “real world” focus on their company. The online part of their business isn’t given as much thought and focus as it should. First off, online IS the real world. Everything we do is online nowadays. Even before the pandemic hit, online sales and interactions were starting to outnumber in-person interactions. And now, well, there isn’t even a contest. Just look…
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Do you have big business plans for the new year? With the previous year in the rearview mirror, I’ve been putting a ton of thought into revamping my business plan. I’m a firm believer in coming up with a new business plan every January (And then of course, I revisit it quarterly to see if I need to tweak it). In this year’s plan, I’ve been specifically focusing on ways I can grow my brand through digital marketing. Branding encompasses everything in a business, including your personality. Your personality, goals, business sense, beliefs, everything goes directly into your brand. And…
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Sometimes, I wonder how I manage to get through my daily to-do list in my business. Not to brag, but believe me, my to-do list can get a little crazy at times. I’m working with dozens of different clients who work in several industries. It takes a lot to keep everything straight (which is why I live by my project management system), I use Teamwork and it is my lifeline! I couldn’t work without it! It helps me keep every project organized and ensures that I never miss a detail or a deadline. So keeping things organized is the easy…
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How much time every week do you spend on your social media? I’m not just talking about writing it. Creating compelling content is only one of the keys to social media marketing success. So much more needs to go into it if you genuinely want to build your audience and convert your followers into paying customers! Here’s an admission for you: I’ve been spending WAY too much time recently growing my Instagram! But I genuinely believe that it’s worth every second. Social media channels like Instagram and Facebook offer small businesses an invaluable (and remarkably cheap) advertising platform to reach…
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Wouldn’t it be great to have an assistant at your beck and call? All you’d need to do is hit the intercom on your desk, and like a flash, they appear! Unfortunately, that’s beyond the means of most small business owners. Many of them work out of their home. Unless they draft their kids into the role, (take it from me, this isn’t a great idea! haha!) having an assistant might seem like it simply isn’t possible. Or is it? The Internet Created Countless Jobs The internet has created countless brand-new types of jobs over the last twenty years, including…
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I bet the holiday shopping season is going to be a little different this year. Every November, you see the same news story on Black Friday: hundreds of people crowding outside of Walmarts and Targets around the country, waiting to grab as many deals as they can. It’s the biggest shopping day of the year with sales galore. COVID-19, however, has changed all that. I suspect that we won’t see the insane crowds as usual outside of stores this Friday, November 27th. As large indoor gatherings are prohibited, stores won’t allow a borderline mob to roar in, grabbing everything in…
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You want to know the real problem with content creation? It’s like being on a treadmill. Every single week, you need to have a new blog or a new podcast ready. This is accompanied by social media posts, an email campaign, and all of your other digital marketing content. It never ends! That’s one of the reasons why so many small business owners fall off the content creation train after just a few weeks. They start out strong, keeping up with the pace. But soon, they start to fall behind, maybe missing a single week. Then it’s two weeks. And…
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The Dangers of Relying on Social Media One thing that I say to my clients over and over again is how important it is for them to be building up their own email list. And countless clients come back to me with, “Jennie, I don’t need an email list. I have thousands of followers on Facebook!” So many people focus solely on building their social media following. They end up forgetting that they don’t actually OWN their followers. You’re at the mercy of Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram. If something happens, you’re out of luck. That is exactly what happened…
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Copywriting is at the heart of most marketing strategies. Everything from writing ads to crafting webinars to coming up with taglines requires a certain amount of copywriting skill. As a small business owner, you need to effectively communicate your brand’s key messages through compelling copy that converts people to paying customers. But how do you do this? If you don’t know the different types of copy, proven strategies to get customers to engage, and ways to deal with writer’s block ( a particular nightmare for all writers out there), you’re likely going to be stuck staring at a blank page…
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